head to head · open source
refined-github vs Harper
refined-github has 32,177 GitHub stars, 1,910 forks, 80 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Harper has 15,469 stars, 632 forks, 896 open issues and last shipped yesterday. refined-github leads on adoption by 108% (32,177 vs 15,469 stars). refined-github is written in TypeScript under MIT; Harper is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. refined-github has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Harper 4%. Harper was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (chrome-extension), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| refined-github | Harper | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 15K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 632 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick refined-github if
- You weight community size — 32K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Harper if
- You want the Harper feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and Harper fits your workflow better
About refined-github
Refined GitHub is an MIT licensed browser extension written in TypeScript that simplifies the GitHub interface and adds useful features, built for developers and teams who spend their working day inside GitHub and want the small missing conveniences fixed without waiting for the platform itself to change.
read the full refined-github overview →
About Harper
Harper is offline, privacy first grammar checker for English. It lives in productivity, browser extension, developer tools, and text editing ecosystem. Project is open source under Apache 2.0. GitHub metadata shows 15373 stars, 627 forks, and 896 open issues. Last push is 2026 09 14. Category is Productivity & Utilities / Browsers & Extensions. It uses Rust for core, WebAssembly for browser loading, language server for editors, JavaScript package for web and Node.js apps. It solves slow, costly, network dependent grammar checking. It replaces Grammarly and LanguageTool as named in README. Grammarly sends writing …
read the full Harper overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is refined-github or Harper more popular?
refined-github has 32,177 GitHub stars and Harper has 15,469. refined-github has the larger community by that measure.
Are refined-github and Harper free?
Both are open source. refined-github is licensed under MIT and Harper under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between refined-github and Harper?
refined-github is written in TypeScript and Harper in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, refined-github or Harper?
Choose refined-github if you want the larger community (32,177 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Harper if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.